Transference: Part 5

Liam wandered back down into the basement the next day. He had been thinking a lot about thing not related to designing lately. He shuffled his feet in the dust thinking and then coughed.
“Who goes there?” yelled the old man from the office in the back.
“It is just me,” Liam yelled back.
“We get over here and stop irritating the dust bunnies.”
Liam walked down the hall realizing he didn’t know the old mans name. It seemed rude of him not to ask if they were going to keep working together. When he got to the office though the old man wasn’t alone. There was also an elderly woman there as well. Probably a week ago she would have frightened him as much as the old man but he had gotten used to the wrinkles and frowns and weird white hair. She also had a kind smile on her face instead of a scowl.
“Is this the young lad you were telling me about Dennis?” she said.
“You mean complaining about?” he grumbled.
“Don’t mind him dear,” she said to Liam. “My name is Sara. I was just making some tea would you like some?”
“If you feed him then he will never be able to focus,” Dennis complained.
Sara turned to Dennis and put her hands on her hips and her eyes radiated a command.
“He is NOT working until he has tea and biscuits!”
“Well make it quick then. I don’t have all day,” he grumbled.
Sara turned to a confused Liam who had frozen in place not sure what to do.
“Come dear,” she said and took him by the arm and led him to a table that had been set. “You have as much tea and biscuits as you like and don’t mind the grumpy monster at the desk.”
Liam obeyed carefully while watching both Sara bustling purposelessly, tidying things that didn’t need to be tidied and Dennis sitting at his desk glaring at a piece of paper he held. Wasn’t everything computerized now?
He finished eating the biscuits he held and then took a sip of tea. Both were more delicious than he expected them to be. They actually tasted…amazing.
“So what did you learn at the Transference Building?” the old man asked.
“Two people were murdered,” Liam replied.
“What do you mean murdered?” Sara asked. Dennis had looked up from his paper and was staring straight at Liam with shock.
“They were killed by someone else…with a killing gun…they never got Transferred.”
Dennis and Sara looked at each other one shocked the other confused and then Sara turned to Liam.
“Would you like to go home early and spend some time with your friends and family?”
“Umm…sure” Liam said and stood to leave.
“First thing tomorrow,” Dennis said but not as gruffly as usual.
As he was wandering back up the stairs he realized they probably didn’t know that he didn’t have any family. His mother and father whoever they had been and had donated eggs and sperm but had said they didn’t want to be known as the child’s parents. He had been raised by volunteers. As for friends…well apparently you were only cool if you were on the field fighting the battle. Hiding in a dusty basement definitely was not a way to get praise from anyone.
He decided to go for a walk. There was a field of wildflowers that hadn’t been destroyed by the fighting groups that was always nice to sit in.